TWA Flight 800: Feds concluded crash was an accident in 2000

Jun. 19, 2013

Written by

Sergio Bustos

Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - A four-year federal investigation that cost $33 million has concluded that the crash of TWA flight 800 off the coast of Long Island that killed all 230 people aboard was definitely an accident.

But what exactly caused flammable vapors in the plane's center wing tank to explode is still not known.

James Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said yesterday that investigators concluded the explosion was "most likely" ignited by an electrical short circuit.

The explosion ripped apart the Boeing 747 minutes after it left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Paris on the night of July 17, 1996. The plane plummeted 13,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean, scattering debris for miles. Nine people from Westchester and five who had ties to the county were killed in the crash.

"I know that many have believed that the crash of Flight 800 was caused by a criminal act," Hall said. "Let me state, unequivocally, the NTSB found no such evidence." Theories of a missile or bomb abounded after the plane went down. Some witnesses said they saw something streaking toward the plane in the night sky.

His remarks came on the first day of a two-day hearing the federal agency is holding before issuing its final 684-page report on the mysterious crash. The board today will hear testimony about safety and aging aircraft.

Nearly 500 people were involved in what Hall called the "most extensive, complex and expensive" investigation in the agency's 33-year history, including divers who searched for victims' remains and fishing trawlers that hauled up 95 percent of the plane from the ocean floor.

Bernard S. Loeb, director of the NTSB Office of Aviation Safety, said the explosion in the center wing tank was similar to two previous aircraft explosions:

· In November 1989, a Boeing 727 owned by Avianca, a Colombian airline, exploded after takeoff.

· In May 1990, a Boeing 737, owned by Philippine Air Lines, went up in flames on the ground before takeoff.

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Investigators said they could not precisely determine what set off the explosion in TWA flight 800's center wing tank, but theorized that electrical wiring inside the aging aircraft may have short-circuited and ignited vapors inside nearly empty tank.

Loeb said investigators combed every piece of the recovered wreckage.

"All of the investigators agreed that none of the wreckage exhibited any of the damage characteristic of a bomb or missile," he said.

A separate 16-month investigation by the FBI also found no evidence that a criminal act downed the plane.

Hall criticized those who have accused the government of trying to hide the true cause of the crash.

"It is unfortunate that a small number of people, pursuing their own agendas, have persisted in making unfounded charges of a government cover-up in this investigation," he said. "These people do a grievous injustice to the many dedicated individuals, civilian and military, who have been involved in this investigation."

One group calling itself the TWA 800 Eyewitness Alliance distributed a leaflet before the hearing, accusing the FBI of ignoring the accounts of eyewitnesses to the crash. The group, which bought a full-page ad in The Washington Times last Tuesday, claims the aircraft was shot down by missiles and complained its members have not been allowed to testify before the NTSB.

"We don't know who launched them, but we know that for some reason our government has lied and tried to discredit all of us," the leaflet said.

Ann Carven lost her 38-year-old daughter, Paula, an off-duty TWA flight attendant, and 9-year-old grandson, Jay, in the crash. She said yesterday that she was satisfied with the NTSB's findings.

"I know people who want to believe it was a missile that brought down that plane, but I know it was a problem in the center wing tank," said Carven, who attended yesterday's hearing wearing photos of her daughter and grandson on her lapel.